E.R Shaw barrels.

[morcey2]

I like the sound of a 6.5-06. You may want to consider a .260 and 6.5x55 as well. I'm not looking at specs, but I have some .308 & 6.5x55 brass sitting here and the head dia's look the same.

I assume the x-wsm's and x-284 would be some real barrel burners.

The 6.5x55 head is about 0.009" larger than a 308/?x57/06/etc, which isn't much. The problem comes in when winchester brass has the same head size as the 308, but the chamber is still larger. It makes brass life very short.

I'm building a 6.5x55 on a spanish 93 receiver and I have a Stevens 200 in 30-06 with a nasty looking bore on layaway that at this point is slated to become a 6.5-06 AI.

Matt

 

[MtnCreek]

The 6.5x55 head is about 0.009" larger than a 308/?x57/06/etc, which isn't much. The problem comes in when winchester brass has the same head size as the 308, but the chamber is still larger. It makes brass life very short.

I don't completly follow. True to spec 6.5x55 is 9 thou larger, but Winchester makes 6.5x55 brass 9 thou smaller than spec (same dia as .308)?
Thanks!

 

[Kachok]

I like the sound of a 6.5-06. You may want to consider a .260 and 6.5x55 as well. I'm not looking at specs, but I have some .308 & 6.5x55 brass sitting here and the head dia's look the same.

I assume the x-wsm's and x-284 would be some real barrel burners.

I already have a 6.5x55 it is my baby Superb accuracy, near zero recoil, puts any and all deer down with an authority, quiter then most handguns, gatta love it. I just want to add a higher speed 6.5 or 7mm so I won't have to push the limits of the 6.5x55 when I hunt WIDE open farms. I can stroke about 3,000fps out of the sweed with 120 BTs but I don't want to push it any further since my primers are already near completly flat at that speed. The WSMs in 6.5mm I am sure would be hard on barrels, the 6.5-284 is not so but won't match the performance of a 6.5-06 though they are close, the 6.5-284 is still in the running but I don't like not being able to find brass so the 06 family has cought my attenttion more.

 

[morcey2]

I don't completly follow. True to spec 6.5x55 is 9 thou larger, but Winchester makes 6.5x55 brass 9 thou smaller than spec (same dia as .308)?
Thanks!

They do, or at least they did last time I checked. I mic'ed the heads on winchester 6.5x55, unfired and compared it to a Prvi Partizan and the winchesters averaged about about 0.010" smaller than the PPU. That's been a couple of years ago, but my understanding is that it's still that way. I'll have to check again when this rifle gets finished.

I know that winchester has started subcontracting with PPU for 7.62x54R brass so they may have started doing the same thing for some of the other cartridges.

Matt

 

[Kachok]

I don't understand why winchester and remington would be so cheap as to try to make 6.5x55 brass with a 308 headsize. That just seems silly to me. I use PPU brass at them moment but I think I am going to order some Lapua of Norma.

 

[LoonWulf]

Kinda makes sense, i doubt the x55 is all that high on their bean counter lists. Why set up extra tooling when the tooling for one will work....if not very well LOL.

 

[matt 7mm]

my hornady 4th edition reloding manual shows the 308 haveing .473 rim diameter and the 6.5x55 haveing .476 rim diameter.so if i rebarreled a 308 to a 6.5 without doing anything to the bolt face would only winchester brass that has the smaller rim work or will the .476 rim still fit snugly on a bolt designed for the .473 rim.